On the other hand, a commenter to my prior post on the Corzine speech offers this perspective:

"Christie just named Bret Schundler as his Education chief. It's been my contention that true property tax reform/relief cannot happen until the Abbott formula is scrapped or heavily altered. Mr Schundler comes from the heart of Abbott country and I do not see him challenging the Abbott formula, which would be akin to political suicide. Furthermore, this appointment smacks of the continued siphoning of suburban money into urban centers. We're doomed for 4 more years of the same, aren't we?"

I would say that on balance it's a very good pick. Though Schundler has said he supports Abbott, he is guaranteed to drive the NJEA crazy. He is so fanatical about urban education that he could wear his opponents down through a pure filibuster.

However, neither he nor Christie believes in giving suburban voters an equal return on their income-tax dollars in terms of property-tax relief. If you ask either of them whether Ocean County, Monmouth County, Sussex County or Morris County should get the same share of state aid as Essex or Hudson, they run for the exit.

But this remains a big improvement over the Corzine approach and it at least shows Christie wants to put up a fight.